With 32 wickets,
Harshal Patel finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker. The uncapped fast bowler also became the joint-highest wicket taker ever in an IPL season, alongside Dwayne Bravo, who achieved the feat for Chennai Super Kings in 2013.
Harshal stole the show in an outing against Mumbai Indians, when he recorded a fabulous hat-trick. By scalping Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar, Harshal sealed a 54-run win for RCB. Harshal has also ‘been on a hat-trick’ four times in this IPL season.
Harshal started the campaign in fine fashion, picking up five wickets against MI in Chennai. He possesses a deadly repertoire of slower balls, which grips the surface and invariably baffles batters. With great control over length and variation, Harshal consistently gets the batters to play early and make the mistake. Harshal is most effective with the old ball, when batters try to slog.
The 30-year-old Haryana pacer has provided the answer to RCB’S death bowling woes. Harshal will be disappointed to miss the bus for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, but his time in India colours cannot be too far away.